PD KD Dr. med. Michael Büttcher

In Switzerland, vaccination records are still largely analog, handwritten, and fragmented—posing challenges for healthcare providers and putting patients at risk due to incomplete information. Our project, led by a team of clinicians, AI researchers, and IT specialists at Luzerner Kantonsspital (LUKS), aims to modernize this system by digitizing historic vaccination cards using artificial intelligence and optical character recognition (OCR). A pilot study of 300 vaccination cards at the Children’s Hospital achieved approx. 80% accuracy in identifying vaccine data. We will enhance this AI model to reach over 95% accuracy and integrating it into electronic health records (LUKIS and meinLUKS). Furthermore, a chatbot-based Medical Question Answering tool will assist clinicians in identifying vaccination gaps and guide decisions based on the Swiss Vaccination Schedule including travel vaccination recommendations. The project will scale to other hospitals using Epic software, enabling national interoperability. Key benefits include faster access to data, improved patient care, and support for research and public health monitoring. Two embedded research studies will assess: (1) Vaccination gaps in chronically ill children. (2) Shifts in paediatric respiratory illnesses post-RSV vaccine introduction. This initiative addresses a critical gap in Switzerland’s healthcare infrastructure by making vaccination data accessible, actionable, and research ready. The team is building a collaboration with Swiss Post Sanela Health Ag to assist the national Swiss e-Vaccination initiative.

BACKGROUND: The safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of standard ivermectin is currently being evaluated in scabies infected children <15 kg. We are currently lacking an appropriate child-friendly pediatric formulation for children <15kg which can be readily used in the clinic and mass drug administration settings. GAP: A novel oro-dispersible minitablet formulation of ivermectin (CHILD-IVITAB) which can completely dissolve in less than 10 seconds has been developed. This novel CHILD-IVITAB formulation can be used for scabies and numerous other neglected tropical diseases in children <15 kg. HYPOTHESIS: The novel CHILD-IVITAB formulation will be safe, tolerable, acceptable, possess a suitable pharmacokinetic profile and be efficacious against scabies in children <15 kg. METHODS: A phase IIB clinical trial with CHILD-IVITAB (200 and 400 µg/kg) will be conducted in scabies infected children <15 kg in Brazil. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy will be assessed in a similar manner as the ongoing Ivermectin Safety in Small Children trial, pharmacokinetics will be assessed by LC-MS, and acceptability measured by the ClinSearch Acceptability Score Test. RESULTS: “Pending”. IMPACT: This novel, oro-dispersible ivermectin minitablet has the potential to be used in clinic and mass drug administration settings to treat scabies and numerous neglected tropical diseases in children <15 kg a safe and efficacious manner.